Tomato Sauce (One-Shot)
by ReasonablyDramatic
Summary: Takes place before X-Men: First Class, when Charles is a student at Oxford and Raven is waitressing. Raven has problems being accepted by society and accepting herself. When somebody wrongs her, she doesn't tell Charles what happened and he gets into her mind to find out because he wants to help her. Angst.


Sorry for any mistakes and confusions of British/American English, it's not my mother tongue.

I do not own the characters and such and don't make any profit with this.

The story takes place when Charles is a student at Oxford, Raven is a waitress.

I hope you enjoy, Reviews and Favorites are appreciated but not compulsory :D. Also, any requests for one-shots are welcome. :)

* * *

Charles can read minds.

But he has become so familiar with thoughts that are not his own, he doesn't need to use his ability to know what someone is thinking.

He knows that Raven doesn't _want_ to trust easily, that she can't bring herself to believe that not everybody notices or cares or thinks bad about the blue thoughts of the blonde or brunette or ginger girl that's passing them by, sitting next to them on the bus or walking in front of them in the street.

He tries to be helpful; He hugs her when she comes home and when they meet somewhere, he tries to lift her spirits by making her breakfast, reading to her, surprising her with tickets for a movie and asking how she is and how her day was. He's trying to show that he _cares_ and wants her to be happy.

She has mood swings it seems. Sometimes she looks fine and she is fine or even happy, sometimes she looks fine but isn't, which usually leads to Charles spending more time with her when it's possible, going for walks and watching movies together at home.

They fall into a kind of rhythm with these things and it's okay, Charles thinks.

Then she comes home one day and doesn't look fine. Charles is working on his thesis next to the window when he hears the front gate creaking outside. He looks up and sees Raven with an aura of confusion and hurt swirling around her. She is walking towards the door very slowly, as if her shoes were made out of concrete. Halfway to the house, she stops and _stares_ straight ahead as if she wasn't sure if she wants to go inside. She lowers herself to the ground, crossing her legs and just sits there in the middle of the way.

Charles drops his pen and jogs down the stairs. She jumps up the moment he opens the door and walks towards him as if nothing happened.

"Raven!"

"Charles?"

He touches her shoulder, looks at her and sees a faked smile and when she hugs him, it doesn't feel sincere, as if she was obligated to do it to show him that she's okay.

Charles doesn't need to talk to her to know that she won't tell him anything. But it can't go on like this. This… creeping depression, the not-talking and pretending.

Charles very well remembers his promise. _"I won't read your mind. You can trust me."_

Some things are more important than promises though.

She all but runs up the stairs and into her room. He returns to the living room and sits down on the sofa, his head between his hands in a silent cry. Charles can't watch Raven suffer anymore.

When he breaks through her defenses and into her mind, he is overwhelmed by the waves of self-hatred and desperation he feels.

Raven is lying on her bed. It is not unusual for her to be thinking about Charles. She often thinks about him. Almost too often. But then she lets the things replay that happened earlier today, and he is still on her mind.

She was walking down the street when she met this guy, Derek. She had talked to him a few times before in the bar, _flirted_ , and he seemed to like her a lot. In which way exactly, she didn't care.

They were chatting while crossing the street and she was too distracted to see the car whose driver was distracted too, seemingly, as he hit the brakes hard and the vehicle stopped centimeters from Raven. She jumped in surprise and turned blue for a second, just a fleeting moment, before regaining composure. Hoping Derek hadn't noticed, she smiled at him and he smiled back, and they made their way to the bus stop where they wanted to part ways. Raven was certain that he hadn't seen her real skin as he acted no different than before the incident.

"When will you be at the bar again?" she asked.

"Uh, I don't think I'll come back honestly", he answered, looking… embarrassed for some reason?

"What do you mean?"

"I, you know, I don't think this is going to work. I don't swing that way, I don't… have a thing for this…?"

"For… what exactly?" Raven's face fell slowly.

"I… don't get me wrong, I'm not racist or anything, I'm bisexual for god's sake, but… I'm human, so I'm… only attracted to humans, you know."

Bewildered, Raven gaped at him.

"It… it was nice, getting to know you. You're very nice…" he muttered nervously and looked quite relieved when his bus pulled up.

Raven didn't feel the need to say anything. Everything had been said already, right?

The bus was gone now, and she was still standing on the sidewalk absentmindedly, letting a strand of curly blonde hair run through her fingers.

Suddenly she notices Charles on the opposite side of the street. Charles wasn't there when it happened. Why was he here now?

"Charles?"

"Raven, you… he's wrong! The genetic differences are…"

"Get out of my head, Charles!" she shouts furiously. "Get. _Out!_ Now!"

With a heavy sigh, he vanishes and Raven is alone again, curled up on her bed in her room.

Hot tears start running down her white cheeks silently.

Her door opens and she can hear steps and then her mattress moves as someone is sitting down next to her. There's only one person living in the huge house with her. She doesn't move.

"You promised." She whispers.

"I know. But I couldn't watch this anymore. You wilting away like this. I tried everything…"

Charles tries to compose himself but is quite upset by all the emotions he felt in Raven's mind.

He sinks down next to her and curls up a bit, facing her, a mirror of her position.

"I'm sure there are mutants who hold onto the fact that people with genetic mutations are the future. And that humans without it are going to become extinct at some point."

"… I don't feel superior."

"We shouldn't. But we also shouldn't believe that they are. We all have to be able to live in peace, humans and mutants together."

"Like cats and dogs, you mean. Always being chased." She scoffs.

"No. But, cats are said to be more cunning than dogs. And more elegant and independent." Charles chuckles while still holding back the tears.

"But no, you know, as much as it looks like it on the outside, this whole mutant-or-human thing, I don't believe this to be a black-and-white situation. Derek was wrong. He could very well also have the gene without it ever being triggered or "used", and never notice it. And still, it is not important if he does or if anyone does. It's a part of you, but it doesn't solely define who you are. Like the shape of your eyebrows-", he smiles as Raven's eyebrows change from thin to thick to wild to defined, "-or your dislike of tomato sauce…"

"My dislike of tomato sauce does define me", she smiles a bit while her fingers play with a loose thread on Charles' shirt collar.

"The key to the eyebrow thing and the general option for the dislike of tomato sauce at least are also in your genes. Just like the rest of your appearance and the ability to change it."

The more Charles talks, the more Raven is calming down. She is still playing with the thread, not looking him in the eyes. Unintentionally, her fingers turn blue as Charles touches them tenderly without keeping them away from his shirt. It spreads until she is back to her _normal_ , blue self and suddenly she is pressing her lips together and her fingers go limp, her golden eyes are directed towards the mattress.

"Nobody looks like me, Charles." He is tracing the patterns of the skin on her hand with his fingertips.

"No normal person will ever accept me as their equal or love me when I look so _different_ from them."

"I don't believe there is one single person on this planet that is normal at everything, Raven. If everybody was the same, life would be incredibly boring and pointless."

They lie next to each other in silence for a while.

Charles can't tell what Raven is thinking.

He continues to study the structure of her skin, tracing the patterns from her hand up her arm.

"Raven", he says and concentrates on her face until she looks up and golden eyes meet blue ones. Charles' irises are almost the same color as her skin.

"Charles?"

"I love you, Raven."

Silence.

"Inside and outside. Even though you don't like tomato sauce."

Raven reaches up und strokes his hair, lets her hand run along the side of his cheek.

Charles moves closer. It is a chaste kiss, the way their lips fit together feels warm and safe and natural and Raven is not sure if Charles meant that he loves her as his best friend or if he meant that he is in love with her, but somehow, it is not important now, because she knows that he will always be there for her.

"I love you too, Charles. Even though you talk rubbish a lot."

He smiles, knowing that he often talks about things that don't matter to her for hours and she still stays with him just because she loves being with him.

They lie on her bed for what could be hours, not moving or talking a lot, before Charles gets up to work some more on his thesis and sure enough, the door opens after a while and out of the corner of his eye he sees how something blue lands on the couch.

Raven feels content at least, _okay_ , and Charles knows she is going to make it.


End file.
